Airport and passenger transport aircraft security have become a dramatically increasing concern in recent years. New procedures and new equipment for increasing the effectiveness of airport and aircraft security have become necessary. This includes faster and more effective methods and equipment for automated baggage and air freight inspection.
Equipment that is being installed and utilized at increasing numbers of airports are Explosive Detection Systems (“EDS”). At the present time there are two EDS devices that are most commonly used at airports. One of these devices admits baggage items with a width of up to 25 inches and a height of up to 19 inches. The other has a two tier opening. For the latter, if a baggage item is less than 16 inches tall, it can have a width of up to 29 inches. If the baggage item is taller than 16 inches but less than 21.5 inches in height, the width is limited to 21.5 inches.
Each of these two commonly used EDS devices as well as other EDS equipment and other airport baggage inspection equipment must operate on a continuous basis for a baggage stream fed by common baggage conveyors. Newer baggage conveyor belts are typically 39 inches wide and baggage fed by such conveyors may be in any orientation and in any lateral position on the belt. Other feed conveyor belts in use, particularly older ones, may have a width of 33 inches or 27 inches. “Repositioning” of a baggage item, which may include lateral displacement of the geometric center of the baggage item or may include reorienting of the baggage item by rotation of the baggage item about its geometric center, or both, may be required for a baggage item to be positioned entirely within the desired baggage stream width. For purposes of this application the term “position” as used with regard to a baggage item, including use in the form “positioning” or “positioned”, shall be deemed to include lateral location and orientation on a horizontal conveyor belt, unless stated otherwise. Baggage items randomly positioned on a 39 inch or other size feed conveyor belt may require repositioning in order to pass through a 29 inch wide opening, a 21.5 inch wide opening, or an opening of other width, particularly if the allowable width varies depending upon the height of the baggage. This has been an ongoing problem since the installation of the EDS devices. A similar problem may exist at an entrance to other baggage inspection or handling equipment and at transitions between newer and older conveyor belts, which often have different widths, thereby requiring a reduction of the baggage stream width.
Air freight parcels and other items, hereinafter referred to as “air freight items” which are commonly shipped in box shaped containers of cardboard or other materials, are also typically handled by conveyors at airports. Air freight items are likewise the subject of increased security concern at airports and inspection equipment and procedures for air freight items is receiving increasing attention. This is particularly true of air freight items which are shipped on passenger aircraft along with passenger baggage. Air freight items, particularly items shipped in box shaped containers, are less likely than baggage items to jam at points where the stream width is reduced. This is because many baggage items are not firm or rigid in form or have corners, edges or surfaces of resilient material, and thus do not slide as readily as cardboard boxes. The present invention can be used for air freight items as well as passenger baggage items. In the interest of brevity, for purposes of this application the term “baggage” shall be defined to include passenger baggage items and air freight items and the term “baggage item” shall be defined to be either a passenger baggage item or an air freight item.
The operation of EDS devices has typically required the presence of a full time operator to prevent jams. While repositioning equipment is currently being used at most installations, the effectiveness of such equipment is too low to allow the EDS devices to be operated without a full time operator. The jam incidence rate is currently no better than 3% for the repositioning equipment currently in use with the EDS devices.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a baggage positioner device for a conveyor baggage stream which will substantially decrease the jam incidence rate at the entrance to baggage inspection equipment and at other locations where the baggage stream width must be reduced.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a baggage positioner device which will eliminate the need for a full time operator for an EDS device installation and reduce operator requirements for other locations where the baggage stream width must be reduced.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a baggage positioner device which is relatively economical to construct and simple to operate and maintain.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a baggage positioner device with a variable discharge width thereby providing for a variable reduction in the width of a baggage stream.